Cultural Influence on IS Practices in China: A Literature Analysis

Abstract

There are many published papers dealing with the impacts of Chinese culture on IS practices. Although these papers contributed to a higher level of awareness of the influence of culture, their findings are fragmented and difficult to build on. The aim of this paper is to address this inadequacy and to contribute to a fuller picture via an exhaustive literature review of published refereed papers in this area. We develop the culture analysis framework along the dimensions of harmony maintenance, individualistic collectivism, hierarchical power structure and high context based on the prior studies. We use these four dimensions to structure the findings of our literature review and analyze their influences on three types of IS practices. We conclude with a discussion of the practical and research implications of our study.

KEYWORDS:

• Chinese culture
• Cultural Dimensions
• Culture Influence
• IS practices

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Xiang-Hua Lu

Xianghua Lu is an associate professor of Management Information System at the School of management, Fudan University, Shanghai. She received her Ph.D in MIS from the Fudan University. Her research interests include information system strategy management, IT business value management and IT capability. Her publications have appeared in Information and Management, International Journal of Electronic Customer Relationship Management etc. She specializes in IT outsourcing, IT implementation, Internet market and E-Commerce research.

Michael S H Heng

Michael S H Heng is currently a research consultant at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. He obtained his Ph D in information systems at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He has worked as a research scientist at the Dutch national research institute TNO. He sits in the editorial board of three international journals in ebusiness and supply chain management. His most recent publication is a book co-authored with Dr Lim Tai Wai, Destructive Creativity of Wall Street and the East Asian Response.